Gloucester Rugby

Gloucester Rugby
Full nameGloucester Rugby
UnionGloucestershire Rugby Football Union
Nickname(s)Cherry and Whites
Founded1873; 151 years ago (1873)
LocationGloucester, Gloucestershire, England
RegionSouth West England
Ground(s)Kingsholm Stadium (Capacity: 16,115)
ChairmanMartin St Quinton
CEOAlex Brown
Director of RugbyGeorge Skivington
Captain(s)Lewis Ludlow
Most appearancesAlan Brinn (574)[1]
Top scorerLudovic Mercier (1325)[2]
Most triesJames Simpson-Daniel (118)[3]
League(s)Premiership Rugby
2023–249th
Home kit
Away kit
European kit
Largest win
Gloucester 103–3 Bucuresti
(Kingsholm Stadium)
29 October 2005 [4]
Largest defeat
Northampton 90–0 Gloucester
(Franklin's Gardens)
14 May 2024 [4]
Official website
www.gloucesterrugby.co.uk

Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.

The club was formed in 1873 and since 1891 has played its home matches at Kingsholm Stadium in the north of the city. In the 2023–24 Premiership Rugby season, Gloucester finished 9th which earned them a space in the 2024–25 EPCR Challenge Cup. The current director of rugby (DOR) is George Skivington who took the role of head coach in the summer of 2020 before being promoted to DOR in the Autumn of 2023.

Gloucester have won 8 major titles; four RFU Knockout Cup's in 1971–72, 1977–78, 1981–82 and 2002–03, one Anglo-Welsh Cup win in 2010–11, and one Premiership Rugby Cup win in 2023–24. The Premiership Rugby Cup win in 2024 meant they became the first club to win all three iterations of the English domestic cup competition.[5] Outside of England, Gloucester has also seen success in Europe's second-tier completion having won the EPCR Challenge Cup twice: in 2005–06 and 2014–15. Despite never winning a league title, Gloucester have finished runners-up on four occasions; 1988–89, 1989–90, 2002–03, and most recently in 2006–07.

The club has no official nickname but is referred to as the Cherry and Whites by supporters and the media in reference to the Cherry and white hooped shirts worn by the team. Matches with local rivals Bath and Bristol Bears are referred to as West Country derbies.

  1. ^ "GLOUCESTER RUGBY: THE PLAYERS". World Rugby Museum. 28 March 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Statistics". www.gloucesterrugby.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Statistics". www.gloucesterrugby.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Gloucester Rugby - Statistics". www.itsrugby.co.uk. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  5. ^ Hurcom, Sophie (15 March 2024). "Premiership Rugby Cup final: Gloucester 23-13 Leicester: Gloucester clinch first trophy in nine years". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 29 March 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2024.